Founded over 40 years ago, the Prospect Park Track Club (PPTC) is Brooklyn’s largest and most active running club, with a membership that extends well beyond the neighborhoods surrounding Prospect Park. Join Prospect Park Track Club today!

Benefits for Members
We have a lot to offer runners of every age and ability, including monthly meetings often with guest speakers, group runs, coached speed workouts, a great club picnic and relay in the summer, and an awards party in the winter.

PPTC’s Races
The Cherry Tree 10 Miler and 3-person Relay and the Turkey Trot 5 Miler on Thanksgiving Day are our two premier races for local runners. Beginning in late May, we host our classic seven-race speed series every other Wednesday evening. Rain or shine, on New Year’s Day you’ll see us in the park for Harry’s Handicap, our famous 3.35-mile race with a staggered start – so anybody can win. Many of the recurring Brooklyn races owe their start to the mentoring and assistance they received from PPTC.

Marathon Support
If you’re a marathoner, PPTC provides great support before and after your race, including group training runs through the summer and fall as you build your mileage, an organized running tour of the “last 10 miles” of the NYC Marathon course, a bus to the NYC Marathon start from Brooklyn and, after your triumphant race, an indoor meeting area and party near the finish line at Central Park.

And for the Hooligans…
Runners are generally a wacky group and our other organized social events also live up to this billing, park runs followed informal socializing to our annual awards get-together. We organize some non-running social activities and are open to all suggestions. In the past we’ve gone bowling and ice skating, taken fall foliage tours up the Hudson and cheered the Brooklyn Cyclones. .

Join Us
Most of all, PPTC offers the support and camaraderie of some of the greatest people you’ll ever want to spend a few sweaty miles with. No matter what your age or ability, whether you are a beginner, a triathlete, a veteran marathoner, or even ultra-marathoner, there’s a place for you in the Prospect Park Track Club! Join Prospect Park Track Club today!

NOTE: The Wednesday runs now meet at 7:00 p.m. at JackRabbit Park Slope (151 7th Avenue, between Carroll and Garfield).

Weekend runs: Saturday at 8:00 a.m., Sunday at 9:00 a.m.

We meet on the sidewalk on the Park side of Grand Army Plaza, near where Union Street ends (map).

Distances and paces vary according to the group make up. This is an ideal set up for finding training partners to suit your goals. Guests are welcome to join us.

For Saturday runs we now have a “running-buddy calendar” so you can see whether others might be running at your pace and mileage. If

Most of us usually do not run in the Prospect Park on Saturdays; we usually go somewhere and back. We recommend you bring a MetroCard just in case. Sundays, we typically run one loop of the park, as a recovery run from Saturday’s long run.

Wednesday night runs

now meet at 7:00 pm, also at JackRabbit. These runs have become well established, and provide a chance for evening runners to run with the group. The fine folks at JackRabbit will provide bag drop only until 8:00 p.m., so if you’re running longer, you won’t be able to pick up your stuff!

Founded over 40 years ago, the Prospect Park Track Club (PPTC) is Brooklyn’s largest and most active running club, with a membership that extends well beyond the neighborhoods surrounding Prospect Park.

We have a lot to offer runners of every age and ability, including monthly meetings with guest speakers, a subscription to our club newsletter, Around the Park, swim clinics, group runs, speed workouts , a great club picnic and relay in the summer, and an awards party in the winter.

Mission

The Prospect Park Track Club was formed to encourage and support individuals engaged in the sport of running.

PPTC’s mission is threefold:

to promote the sport of running, primarily in the borough of Brooklyn

to enhance the running experience of its members regardless of ability

to offer a varied program that benefits its members emphasizing but not restricted to running-related activities

In support of its mission, PPTC will use its resources:

to purchase equipment and supplies

to facilitate organized races and group runs

to create a member-friendly environment around the sport of running

to support other Brooklyn running organizations through its Grants Program

PPTC’s Races

The Cherry Tree 10M and the 5M Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day are our two premier races for local runners. In the summer, we also host our classic six-race speed series on Wednesday nights. And rain or shine, on New Year’s Day you’ll see us in the park for “Harry’s Handicap,” our famous 3.35-mile race with a staggered start – so anybody can win. Many of the recurring Brooklyn races owe their start to the mentoring and assistance they received from PPTC.

Marathon Support

If you’re a marathoner, PPTC provides great support before and after your race, including group training runs through the summer and fall as you build your mileage, an organized running tour of the “last 10 miles” of the NYC Marathon course, a bus to the NYC Marathon start from Brooklyn and, after your triumphant race, an indoor meeting area and party near the finish line at Central Park.

Volunteer Opportunities

Although running is our main endeavor, PPTC also contributes to many organizations throughout the course of the year, including The Prospect Park Alliance, Bishop Ford High School track teams, the Red Cross and the Prospect Park YMCA .

And for the Hooligans…

Runners are generally a wacky group and our other organized social events also live up to this billing, park runs followed by brunch to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and Chinese New Year/Martin Luther King Day. We also organize some non-running social activities and are open to all suggestions. In the past we’ve gone bowling, taken fall foliage tours up the Hudson, ice skating and outings to see the Brooklyn Cyclones play ball.

Join Us

Most of all, PPTC offers the support and camaraderie of some of the greatest people you’ll ever want to spend a few sweaty miles with. No matter what your age or ability, whether you are a beginner, a triathlete, a veteran marathoner, or even ultra-marathoner, there’s a place for you in the Prospect Park Track Club!

Membership Application

We have a lot to offer runners of every age and ability, including monthly meetings with guest speakers, a subscription to our club newsletter, Around the Park, group runs, speed workouts, a great club picnic and relay in the summer and an awards party in the winter, plus social events to appeal to the hooligan in all of us.

To join online, please click here to become a member or renew your membership with the Prospect Park Track Club. If you have any questions, please e-mail membership@pptc.org.

These 5K races are every other Wednesday starting May 23, June 6, June 20, July 11, July 25, August 8, August 22. Please note we are skipping Wednesday July 4th

Registration starts at 6:30 pm at the Oriental Pavilion. (This is near where the ice-skating rink used to be) The race will start about 7:15. Prospect Park closed to cars at 7:00 but we want to make sure the road is clear.

Race starts after the Parks Dept closes the roadway of cars; $5: cash.

We will give out awards following the each race at the Oriental Pavilion. Results for all races are here

In the Beginning

Somewhere, sometime in the year of 1970, a bunch of local running guys decided to form their own club. Back in the days when running was not what we know it to be today, some of them changed sports to pursue the running fever. For example, Bob Muller was a speed skater and had to lose his mighty skating legs and some pounds to achieve the speed he wanted in running. It paid off as he won in his age group in the Yonkers marathon seven times and many more races over the years. In fact, if you ever check out his belt buckles, they may be a prize for winning a marathon instead of the traditional trophies!

These men thought they would have a better chance as a team than they would as individuals so Harry Murphy, Jack Stetch, Phil Heitz, Mark Greenblatt, Norm Feldman, and Bob Muller formed a running club. Harry became the coach and mentor we all know of today. Kurt Steiner was most helpful and supportive with this endeavor – however, due to AAU (now TAC /MAC) rules, he could not become a member. Kurt never failed in his years of announcing races to make a special point of cheering in his PPTC friends. This was also the early days for the NYRRC and every member wore his or her own assigned number for each race.

PPTC Colors

In the early days, the PPTC colors were yellow and black for no other reason than these shirts were cheap. The first one was hand painted by Harry Murphy himself, who made signs by trade. Harry made many of the first finish line signs for Fred Lebow. The story goes some of the shirts cost 75 cents and it is believed some of our members may still have some!!

What’s In a Name?

Now they have a club, so what do they call it? The name needed to be accepted by TAC/MAC. They tried “Brooklyn Road Runners,” “Brooklyn Trojans,” and “Prospect Park Road Runners.” Finally, “Prospect Park Track Club” was accepted even though the Club was never a track team. The Club always had the bridge on the back of their shirts and moved to the red and white in 1980 when PPTC members entered a race as a team and singlets in the new colors replaced the original tee shirts. The club produced a commemorative shirt 2001 to celebrate the 30th anniversary, using Harry’s original logo and in today’s colors to bridge the past and present and bring us to the future.

Long Runs and Workouts

Frank Deleo, Paul Soskind, Nathan Whinning, Louis Rios, Al Prawda and Johnny Kenul – all our Ultra runners and winners in many team events for many years — would start at Park Circle, go over the bridge, south to Battery Park and back. Maybe they would start at Park Circle and run to the GWB and back. Normal long runs for them, and many others.

For many years, Fred and Mollie Spiegal led group runs that met at Park Circle across from the tennis courts. The favorite route was over the bridge to either City Hall or to Washington Square Park and back. In the late 90’s Peter Tomasi revived the group runs which ran both around and beyond the park. When Pete and his family moved to Port Jervis, the club found itself without an official group run. But in the spring of 2007, Ralph Yozzo volunteered as group leader, and proposed running alongside another group from Slope Sports to promote greater participation and camaraderie. The experiment proved a huge success, garnering greater numbers than ever before.

In Harry’s day, Tuesday in the summer was Midwood field workouts. Regina Cahill remembers Fridays as the “Torture Track” hill repeats on the long meadow near the picnic house. According to Regina, Harry Murphy always had innovative workouts:

Hill repeats near Seeley St. playground in the dark. Harry would be at the top of the hill. When his flashlight went out, it was time to start the repeat

Nature runs “jogging the acid” out after a race. Regina took us on a similar run that was both fun and educational. It was nice to run on some of Harry’s old turf. If we can convince her to do this again, I encourage you to join us

Jiggley jogs. Easy run days were a 4½ miles trail around the parade grounds wearing Harry’s wool red plaid hunter’s hat with earflaps down!! Regina recalls a congenial group of folks who enjoyed each other and running and were fiercely competitive in their races.

With Harry’s passing, the club found itself without its running mentor. Enter Will Abrams , outstanding runner and devoted coach. Will provided sorely needed speedwork sessions for several years, and led a cluster of dedicated runners who would often train before dawn.

In 2006, Tony Watson assumed the main coaching responsibilities for PPTC, and infused a competitive spirit into new and seasoned club runners alike, who began to attract attention with their performances once again.

First PPTC Picnic: August 1975

First Harry’s Handicap: July 1977

Back then there was a semi-annual handicap race in June on the day of the club picnic (which is now a relay race) and on New Year’s Day, which is the Handicap we know today. Al Goldstein said Lenny Nemerovsky and Harry constituting the Handicapping committee and hearing many pleas for a higher handicap from the majority of runners! Some things never change! Harry and Kurt Steiner did the scoring and Harry handed out 25 medals to the first finishers. The Handicap is now run every year on New Year’s Day in honor of Harry. Runners are given a 15-minute (or greater) head start (handicap) 14 minute, 13 minute and so on. Rumor has it members would actually train for this event in the early days. Al Goldstein recalls Harry having a positive approach in offering critique of someone’s running – only positive comments – never negative. Al says Harry was a tough runner and remembers him giving everything he had to the finish on a hot day in August when he was over 70. Harry never boasted about his own running career although he was a national champion once and a nationally ranked runner for years.

Social Activities

PPTC has a long history of social activities. Harry Murphy (nicknamed “Junior” but no relationship to the original) remembers having a big party / dinner dance at Bishop Ford H.S. in the early 1980’s. The site was secured by Brother Ben O’Reilly from the Club who taught at Bishop Ford at that time. Fred Lebow was the guest of honor and speaker at the dinner.

Besides the running, there have always been numerous opportunities to socialize with other club members. Our annual awards party, and club picnic are outstanding. Also members often organize other activities, formally or informally, to share some good times. We’ve gone bowling, cheered at ballgames, taken a foliage cruise to Bear Mountain, or gone to the theater to name a few instances. The underlying theme is to take part in fun events. With people you’ve come to know and enjoy through the club.

PPTC Today

Today, the Club counts more than 250 members and is the largest running club in Brooklyn. We are actively involved in working alongside the Prospect Park Alliance and the Prospect Park YMCA to promote community programs and events. Our monthly newsletter provides updates on club activities. PPTC has been instrumental in developing and helping Brooklyn’s road running programs, past and present, by offering their technical expertise and volunteers to other groups looking to establish their own races, and to those who have already established events. Among these are The Flatbush Frolic, Music That Heals, The Eugene McCarthy Memorial Race, The Michael Hanly Memorial Run, Knights of Pythias 5 Miler, and the Good Shepherd 5K. The Club has also sponsored the girls’ distance medley event repeatedly at the Midwood Relays in Brooklyn. PPTC volunteers are prominent in many park events and along the 13.1 miles of the Brooklyn Half Marathon. In recent years, our men have earned applause for their enthusiastic staffing of a water stop at the NYRRC Women’s Half Marathon. PPTC has generously donated over $20,000 of the proceeds from the Turkey Trot 5Miler to the Bishop Ford High School track team to help further their competitive program.

Many people have served and continue to serve in many positions over the years and not all are mentioned here. Thank you to all our members who have volunteered their time and energy to improve and enhance our club.

To encourage team racing, and support of Brooklyn races organized by local groups and organizations, we are continuing PPTC’s “Run Brooklyn” awards for 2012. PPTC members racing 6 scored Brooklyn races will be entered in a raffle for a $100 cash prize at the end of the year.

Rules for qualification:

To be eligible, runners must become PPTC members before July 1, and must race only for PPTC in any races they enter.

PPTC’s database will be the official source for tracking races. Each runner will be responsible for entering their own races.

Any Brooklyn based races that are officially scored will qualify.

Only 1 NYRR race in Brooklyn will be counted even if you ran several.

The 6 races MUST include at least ONE race organized by PPTC.

Only 1 speed series race (ie. Al Goldstein Summer Speed Series, Fort Hamilton Speed Series, etc.) will be counted, no matter how many you ran.